Sawdust briquettes with a vertical log splitter?

[@joep610]

To make this work, you need to make the cross-section of the area where the briquette comes out smaller than the cross-section of where the material goes in. By doing that, you are forcing more material into a smaller area. This increases heat of the material going through the die due to friction and and the lignin (glue) of the wood will "melt". When it cools off, the briquette will be glued together. If you have a good process, the bricks should be steaming when they come out. Awesome video!!

[@mmudd28]

After watching I came to the same conclusion and had to find out if someone else did.

[@BarnCatAlley]

Congratulations, You have just reinvented the.method for making Soviet Union bread!!!

[@terriblet4145]

I agree with you on reduction of size, also, cutting a bit off the top of the load shoot will speed up the loading process. If you want longer brickets, just cycle the press about 75% stroke each time. this should give the bricket more time to compress. Keep up inventing. Not all proto types work out in the beginning.

[@Ants_Pants]

Also if the tube was longer it would stay inside the dye longer keeping it more stable. Im also thinking about heating the pipe

[@32Domi]

The handy man over at New Yorkshire Workshop did something similar: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKPMZ2Wrr7GiqdUsi=pPDZa-_CWFR9odcx

[@scottmyers226]

I love your sense of humor Ant

[@denniscarreno5882]

You are such a talented man! The machine looks like an electric chair…hahaha! You’re videos is for normal crazy people like us….perfect Andris!

[@Ants_Pants]

Thank you so much 😀

[@matthewwickwire1640]

Did everybody enjoy watching that fire as much as I did. The most satisfying thing I have seen today.

[@Ants_Pants]

Watching fire feels 👍

[@wendyhorn8376]

My very difficult and sad week was just made bearable seeing your new video today. Thank you, more than you'll ever know ❤

[@Ants_Pants]

You are so welcome

[@bugandmommy]

I love how you waste nothing! And you’re so imaginative and innovative. Lots of respect!

[@Ants_Pants]

Thank you! 😊

[@RonCuster-m4i]

Always something interesting happening here. Never a waste of time! Keep a bucket of loose sawdust near the stove and throw some in when you check the fire each time

[@johnl8996]

Watching the oil-filled wood burn was absolutely worth the watch. Better than the fireplace ones youtube is saturated with.

[@Ants_Pants]

😅👍

[@dougdavidson175]

They weren't mistakes, just ways that didn't work. Thanks Andris. Hiya Super Mum and family. Take care & stay safe.

[@bobspring6723]

I like your content and attitude. Keep going.never boring.

[@Ants_Pants]

I appreciate that!

[@Ants_Pants]

Maybe we should turn this project into Ants Pants hydraulic press channel? Perhaps there's a reason why nobody has tried this style before😉 but anyway... I think i like one thing about this setup, the speed of processing the sawdust and i guess you could totally use it if the bricks were thrown into fireplace right after pressing.

[@mm9773]

“Aaand HERE WE GO”

[@ProtonOne11]

Maybe all it needs is to get a bit more narrow at the bottom, so the sawdust will have some more restriction against pushing out, allowing for more compression? Seems to be a balacing act between getting the right restriction, and not just deadlocking the device tho. I think most sawdust pellet machines i've seen just use a long enough compression tube. That basically has the same effect of creating friction to allow for enough compression.

[@ukbsd]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKPMZ2Wrr7GiqdU

[@Jon-wg8vr]

Mix paraffin or some kind of chemical in the wood I know you’re cheap and you like to use water but think of it this way you could sell them like a Duraflame log then we only need to come up with a name that suits you and your channel put that out to your viewers😂😂

[@Jon-wg8vr]

Maybe the chemical would also need a binding agent No, you can’t use concrete your favorite mix

[@kirk467]

Thanks for sharing Andris, sending prayers and positive vibes to you and your family my friend! Kirk from Louisiana USA 🇺🇸🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙋🏼🙋🏼🙋🏼🙋🏼🙋🏼✌🏻✌🏻

[@Ants_Pants]

Much appreciated

[@jerryburton6825]

Always enjoy listening to you use the language

[@Ants_Pants]

Glad to hear that

[@akukorhonen5182]

For the lack of force, you still need to reduce the size of the ram and make smaller briquettes to get enough pressure to the pulp. Also you could try making the output tapered slightly narrowing, instead of widening. Wood naturally contains lignin which will keep your Weetabixes together when it gets enough pressure->friction->heat.

[@Ants_Pants]

Mhm

[@macstone9719]

Friday routine: shoes off, grab some snacks and a beer, watch Ants Pants 😄!!

[@AW-Services]

Yet another brilliant Friday dive into the Ants pants rabbit hole. Making bricks with water and pva is a great binder. Tried making them myself in the 90s. Have a great weekend Andris

[@Ants_Pants]

Cool bro

[@bigjarn]

Research & Development is always a trial to success!

[@mikehunt3222]

This kind of R&D where you’re just messing around is MAYBE a 50/50 shot to success.

[@fredyoung8895]

You never waste my time Ants, as a steel fabricator myself I love watching your videos, good job mate, perseverance is the key, you need some cheap glue like wood sap

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks 👍

[@loodusefilm7881]

It wasn't waste of time, becausw now you know how its not working. That saves a lot of other inventers time. I hope to see more videos like that where you just try to build your own version of some machine. Good luck!

[@midgoog2]

When I was a kid we made a glue with flour and water to use in craft class making paper mache stuff. It's cheap sets hard and will burn. Cheers Eric

[@CarlosFau64]

I have seen some tutorials on KZbin and they agree that the mixture should be equal parts sawdust and cardboard and cover with water, let the mixture absorb the water well and press. The molds I've seen are round, not square like yours. I guess round is better. No corners, less stress, less breakage (I guess). And make blocks that are not too long. It is important that there are holes in the mold to drain the blocks well in the press. Your idea is great, thanks for sharing it!! Luck! A hug!

[@CarlosFau64]

Ah! And let the blocks dry in the sun and air for 3 or 4 days. They stay very hard.

[@jastuff3689]

The amount of work you put into something to make life easier-more efficient is amazing. The smart people are the ones who have learned from their mistakes or the mistakes/successes of others. You do it all and we can't wait for another adventure with Ants. Greetings from Houston.

[@Ants_Pants]

👍

[@JP22095]

Thanks!

[@Ants_Pants]

Welcome!

[@bymarcatholictinkering]

I love your honest humility, don’t ever stop!

[@timderks5960]

Huh, I was thinking about suggesting this to you in a recent video, but I forgot. Great to see you're not wasting the sawdust, it's a lot of usable material.

[@talibirkmanis5727]

Another great video ( Im always wanting MORE !!!!! ) . Boy Ants Pants brain , I'd love to know what goes on in there , but then again , probably not ! No , I think I'll just sit back and watch the results of his amazing imagination , inventivness and humor !!!! Thanks Ants !

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks dude

[@KirkHermary]

This was so cool man! Watching you design, try, and test both the device and different mixtures was very interesting. Years back, 2018 or 2019, I bought a bundle of compressed sawdust/woodchip logs. Each measures about 20cm×5cm×5cm. I guess the manufacturer did whatever pressure and heat to activate natural binding. You can cut them with a saw and it takes a bit of force to crumble. I still have a bunch of those logs in my emergency supplies stash. Keep up these great inventing videos bro.

[@Ants_Pants]

Thank you very much!

[@bymarcatholictinkering]

I like your work area! That drill press is really convenient.

[@Ants_Pants]

Yeh

[@carloskawasaki656]

Thank you for sharing, great week end who start with an another project, always a pleasure watch your project👍👍👍👍

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks, you too!

[@FunfindersX]

🎉I can watch you do any project, you are so creative. You come up with some amazing ideas. You are so humorous, keep them coming ❤

[@TerryLawrence001]

Always enjoyable seeing another way to attempt things. Never a waist of time. My sawdust solution was to build better combustion chamber to heat coolant that circulated through my homes radiators.(Medium pressure boiler)

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks again!

[@andrusw5015]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 Järgmisena tee õunamahla press, enam vähem samal põhimõttel. Mul on. Ei pea käsitsi jamama. Vajutad kangi ja mahl jookseb.

[@Ants_Pants]

Yup

[@giggitygiggitygoofg6069]

I did it with wall paper paste and my friend used flour and water. They both worked but we had a much smaller pipe think it was between 60 & 80 mm and I used my log splitter which is the same as your second 1 is the little one on wheels . Good luck luv your videos and your quite mad.

[@MrGeoffreySmith]

You ended up making a rocket stove! Remember when I asked if you'd ever thought about making your own wood burner? You just did it 😉

[@danpags7023]

It looks like it would work as a rocket stove. Absolutely

[@Ants_Pants]

😆

[@ihnas2578]

Andris Ants hits another home run! Great entertaining video I really enjoy the engineering creative genius with Andris. Again my favorite channel by far!!

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks again!

[@kirk467]

You need to get yourself an air needle scaler to chip the burnt flux off your welds my friend! Works great for cleaning the welds Andris, just a suggestion brother!

[@petermamo560]

You never waste our time, it was very entertaining. I think the greta burger was the best one, but I don’t think she would be a fan of it. You were going for the industrial look, a lot of heavy duty material there. I liked your makeshift bobsleigh, really good. Thank you again for an entertaining hour 😂

[@Ants_Pants]

😅👍

[@Jon-wg8vr]

At least you have a hobby and you try things

[@bobferranti5222]

I know it's going to be a great day when I see a new video! I was wondering how long it was going to take before you had this idea. All that saw dust needed to be made into something and this is the perfect idea. I think some briquette places use wax for a binder.

[@dougfresh9574]

May I suggest, for a binder, wheatglue or hot water and flour mixed with the sawdust before pressing it.

[@garthmiller6191]

Never a bad video! I'll be thinking about this all week long. There are worse things to think about. Total win!

[@arjanvogel6444]

Thanks for your vid 😇💟💟💟 Love and bless you Andris, maybe try with candle vet.

[@Ants_Pants]

Great idea!

[@canadianpopeye8066]

Natural comedy at its best.

[@09FLTRMM77]

MM77 Approved 👍🏼👍🏼…………………………………………………………….#1 Your videos are never a waste of time, no matter what they are entertaining. #2 The company my wife works for owns a company that makes wood pellets. I talked to one of the engineers about how they were made and could not wrap my head around how it was done until he took me to the plant. In a nut shell, an extruder ( a rotating screw type extruder), a die to mold the pellets, and a rotating knife to cut the pellets loose. You are on the right track with your “extruder” design. My opinion.

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks

[@alex4alexn]

some company please send him a needle scaler, with all the welding he does, it will be a gamechanger, love these fabrication vids

[@Ants_Pants]

First thing that pops in hand is the slag remover 😂

[@Riveters_Reunion]

Such genius. Every problem meets the one with the solution.

[@brianwenzaler8023]

Hi. If you made the bottom of the presse a little coneshaped, you wouldt presse the wood Even Haarder. Great video 😊

[@davidtaplin7990]

you are the best better than all the rest you have got my respect.

[@rheinfalke]

Far better than Hydraulic Press Channel 💙

[@woodrustandthings]

I love the chi-channels, when the chi is good, so will your ying & yang my friend!

[@Ants_Pants]

Oh yes!

[@philhermetic]

I was going to suggest water and pva glue/wood glue etc but they would still have to dry out, but they would stay together, it needs massive pressure to bring out the natural bonding agent BUT have you seen the chinese wood pellet mills that force the wood/leaves/waste through a grid to make pellets for feed or burning. Look them up!! Loved every minute of that! Some of my projects don't work at first either, but the doing of them and thinking about them often brings a better idea to mind! Onward and upward! Phil

[@Ants_Pants]

Massive pressure can be reduced with heating the pipe i think

[@projetchalet]

Love your sens of humour. Like the idea and plan to try it - any updates on a smaller harder briquettes ?

[@Ants_Pants]

I wanna try smaller press tube and also heat

[@projetchalet]

@@Ants_Pants I will also try one here - I'll keep you posted. Same concept - might use a round pipe

[@TheGrimReaper1]

At least you have more sense than money, unlike one or two people on KZbin who have more money than sense. specifically those that burn perfectly good stove firewood in a burn pit and prefer burning logs they could sell. “Waste not want not” as my mum used to tell me just after the war. All the best from England.

[@Ants_Pants]

Smart mom 👍

[@terryrobinson1416]

Yeehaw... slide down an icy slpoe on anything you can find! Awesome! Can't wait for mud season to be over. May need to soak it for a few days. From videos ive watched, maybe too much pressure, drying all the water out of it. The videos ive watched say make wet, let soak long enough, press, let dry longer, burn.

[@cecramb]

I have a friend that works for a wood pellet company and they use a high pressure press as well. As vegetable oil as a binder, you don't need much oil in order to achieve the binding. And you don't have to wait as long for your brick to dry out hope this helps.

[@jim96r]

Always so happy to witness your successes. I always believe that watching your content will be entertaining 😊🎉

[@Ants_Pants]

😇

[@ossicox]

ur positiv mindset is incredible keep it up good man

[@Ants_Pants]

I appreciate that!

[@heatherbrown2761]

Your videos are never a waste of time. I have always enjoyed your videos. =)

[@Ants_Pants]

Wow, thank you!

[@heatherbrown2761]

@@Ants_Pants And thank you for all the awesome content that you post for us. =)

[@Ants_Pants]

. no problemo

[@JanE-o3v]

Andris, when welding galvanised steel first grind off the zinc coating, zinc oxide fumes are not healthy 😮

[@michaelovitch]

Think it like concrete : You have wood chips it's about like gravel. You need bonding : it's glue, like wallpaper glue the equivalent of cement. You need intermediate aggregate particles to link bigger wood chips together : it's saw dust ,the equivalent of sand wich fill up room between gravel and cement. A little bit of water /glue / wood particles proportions ratio testing and the mixing in a concrete mixer would help you a lot to go faster.

[@benclark5225]

Andris: enjoyed your video on "sawdust to logs". I think if I were to do it, I would go horizontal for sure and add a heating element (burn scrap stuff) to get the pressure chamber up to at least 400 degrees F. This heat applied to compressed dry sawdust may result in an exterior "glaze" that you see on the outside of wood pellets used for pellet stoves. this glaze may help to solidify the logs and keep them from breaking up. Just a thought. Carry on dude.

[@Ants_Pants]

Yup

[@robertzapatka1082]

What a great idea! I wonder if there is anything you could add to the sawdust that wasn’t expensive?

[@Ants_Pants]

Non food grade strash

[@sydneymcconnaughhay5947]

A.P. your a genius,,, keep on thinking about it ,and you'll get your answer...

[@philipreich7035]

A valient effort Andris! Here is one thing you might try: Once you get a wood burning stove in the shop, you could heat a metal barrel of water on top of the stove with a drain valve on the bottom, and then mix up a batch of hot water and wood chips in another cut down barrel at floor level. Maybe you could use one 55 gallon metal barrel, and use 2/3rd for the water heater on the stove, and the other 1/3rd for the mixing pot at floor level. Then try pressing the hot wood chips -- but you would want to build a catch basin to recycle the water back into the heating barrel so you don't waste it and so you don't lose all the heat in the water. If you do this during the winter when you are running the stove a lot, the cost to heat the water would be basically free. You would need to research and/or experiment to see how long the wood chips should soak in the hot water before pressing them. Just make sure to catch the water pressed out of the form and recycle it back into the heating barrel with an inexpensive pump from your catch basin. You might be able to recycle a condensate pump from a gas furnace or a/c system for that prupose -- and it would automatically run and shut off during the process. I suspect the recycled water would get more and more "gluey" as time goes on too as more stuff is extracted from the wood chips during the process. One issue might be how much humidity it puts in the air during operation. Might make the shop a temporary sauna! Anyway, it's an idea to try in the future. Cheers from Oregon, USA Philip

[@Ants_Pants]

That's an interesting idea

[@davesheasley5703]

I just came across your video of the sawdust press. You need to compress completely under pressure then push it out, make a slide plate that can be easily put in and out when pressing then removed to push the compacted plug on out. This way you would get better compaction.. another method would be to build it out of smaller diameter pipe and again use a stop plate then push it out smaller diameter would give a more dense plug of sawdust. Think it over. Good luck

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks for the tip!

[@zeroforty88]

I have a suggestion. It does add a extra step to the process but the main part is passive so its not that bad. And i really don't know does it work or not, but it might work if you soak newspaper/paper in water for a few days, then add the sawdust in to the mix and take a paint mixer and stir the paper to a mush. Then try the mixture with this press of yours. The fibers from the papers might bind the mix together. Thanks for the interesting videos!

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks for the idea

[@Michael-pe4cr]

Great video you did a good job. Don’t give up you’ll find the secret to making it work. My friend makes those he uses sawdust water, and COW shit. It mixes it up and make sauce and they stick together and they burn really hot.

[@otofoto]

Making sawdust briquettes is rocket science. It is not so easy as it looks. Different grades requires different approach.

[@peterzstandalone5178]

You made me watching Fire going for over Two Minutes without even noticing 😂

[@Ants_Pants]

Haha

[@CoroaEntertainment]

When making paper, they press fine pulp under a lot of pressure.The smaller/finner material is what helps bind it together. You have pressure, but the wood shavings are too big to get a good solid hold onto each when being compressed. Try cutting/shredding the wood shaving, and especially the cardboard (it shouldn’t have any big chucks in the finished mix). Adding some hot water will help the wood/pulp expand, and then when its compressed, the expanded wood fibers will intertwine better, which should give to a more solid brick.Then place the bricks in a warm dry room for a few days.

[@briandarnell5966]

Love seeing ants in fast mode

[@MartyLacy]

I save 1/2 gallon milk and coffee creamer containers pack them fully up with sawdust and some old waist oil. Packed with 2x4 and throw it in the fireplace.

[@Cholton222]

Taper the bottom pipe inward. So it squeeze it before falling out bottom. ❤

[@jasonmacdonald5468]

A large pellet machine has the pressure to heat up the ligden (natural wood glue that forms with pressure) so that they can dry stick no water needed An excellent video, the learning process is much entertaining so good job for KZbin content

[@Ants_Pants]

Yup

[@willwade1101]

Suggestion. Make your mold half the height of you rams stroke and put a heavy duty flange along the top edge. Once you've compressed the mold to the top, place the top flange on spacers below the ram and push the brick out of the mold. You may need to drill holes in the mold to aid in water dispersal and you may need to add liquified paper as a binder for the wood chips

[@Craig-vg7kz]

Andria I’d rather watch you than Dune 2. Seeing you fly down the hill in that bucket made me spit out my coffee!

[@Ants_Pants]

😅

[@Craig-vg7kz]

Meant to spell Andris stupid autocorrect

[@JanneRanta]

I was trying to imagine my own design while watching this. I would go for the horizontal kind so that water would flow out easily. Almost exactly like you think about with the log splitter. I think a round tube with a very course and big thread in the end and a matching cap would be nice. So you can really ram stuff against the cap. Then unscrew the cap and ram the finished briquette through. For speed you could have a big hex hole in the cap that you could use impact drill on to open it.

[@JohnChryn-sn3cj]

Well didn't waste my time. I just like the way you come up with ideas and go for it if it works it works if it doesn't it doesn't it we learn something and you learn something I like the way you think there isn't enough common sense and you've got it another great video can't wait till next Friday

[@davidnaudi2601]

Man I’ve spent many months working out how to do something. I’ve finally cracked one of my problems. It’s all trial and error. You could make more accessories for that press like using it to press out old bearings as well. Cheers

[@Ants_Pants]

Mhm

[@rpviper666]

Once you were sliding down that little elevation and looked inside the bucket, I knew right away what's coming next!

[@Ants_Pants]

Lol

[@bymarcatholictinkering]

Excellent concept, good work 👍

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks a lot 😊

[@ManualG6]

Best part of a Friday.🫡

[@Jon-wg8vr]

Who wouldn’t like to attend the meetings for R&D in this man’s head😂😂😂 Imagine what doesn’t make it to paper

[@Ants_Pants]

😆 at the end of the day we get a spaceship that makes apple sauce

[@MrGeoffreySmith]

@@Ants_Pants 🤣🤣🤣

[@MikhailScottKy]

Best line "I am an EXPERT at making a mess"!!!!

[@the_zule]

Could you go from the 4” down to a 3” that would help with compaction? Looking good!

[@darrengreenwood8846]

Not wasting my time ants very entertaining video thanks for your upload brilliant

[@Ants_Pants]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@db9815]

I have tried this in various ways until I came across the idea of using… STEAM. Steam makes the natural resins in the wood heat up and stick together. So once compressed you have a solid block of wood (briquette). I used a wall paper steamer with a nozzle welded into the mold. (My mold was only 2” pipe. So expected a big mold like yours may need more steam nozzles to heat the wood up. Other forms of heating could be explored too I’m sure. Soaking in water I would rather use for making paper or cardboard briquettes if you got plenty time on your hands..

[@Ants_Pants]

Interesting

[@francisremillard9482]

I am so happy. All this time, I thought that you were so much smarter than I am. I was so wrong. Welcome to the club.

[@Sparkey]

He is smarter than you guar-ant-eed

[@Ants_Pants]

Umm 🤔😅

[@darkfactory8082]

Ha, at least you can say you tried.. Not every project turns out how we wish to, but there is still room for mods and improvements. You have some sense of humor though.. 😉 I enjoy a lot watching your endeavours in unknown stuff.. If you don't try, you don't know the outcome, right? Keep on, it's a blast!

[@Ants_Pants]

Very true!

[@horstszibulski19]

I would recommend to give a try to a mixture of wood chips, cardbord mud and wall paper glue...as soon as it dries, it will stick together...that glue can't be harmful to the environment, they use it also to keep vegan burger patties together... 🤣😂🙃 Thanks for letting us be a prt of your R&D! 👍👍👍

[@xzytqweo3538]

Never a dull moment with ya, buddy. Always great to see your videos no matter if they make or fail....and this one did not fail...just haven't found what works yet.....maybe shaving some bees wax and throwing into the dry shavings? Surely there is someone near by that is a bee keeper and has wax to give or sell cheaply...maybe trade for firewood....hmm...🤔 See ya next Friday. Bill

[@Ants_Pants]

Thanks dude

[@peeps124]

Great experiment Andris! Slightly disappointed that you didn't try mixing the shavings with C4... ;)

[@Ants_Pants]

Dude

[@darlenevjohnson5237]

Also, if the wood dust/chips are hardwood, it would be really good mulch for the garden.

[@jimlong527]

No time waisted, we all learned something today.

[@artcard5965]

All that saw dust from your band mill is good to throw on the ice when tracked into the house just let it dry and sweep it up and use it again.

[@thatdudeinorange5269]

Seen how they mix sawdust and cardbord with water and press it with a hydraulic bottle jack into tubes that then are stacked and left to dry. One version of those press things which made 12 or 15 'tubes' in one go was bought online. Amazon or Alibaba?

[@Sequesterer]

The "sawdust" blocks you can buy here in sweden are coated with some material. parrafin or the like. But they still break up top some degree when you open their plastig packagin (they come in 4-6 "logs" per package)

[@Ants_Pants]

How expensive?

[@jmt6615]

Making your own steel wool 👍👍

[@johnfreiler6017]

what you needed to do is to make the lower form get smaller, not larger: this will raise heat and pressure which releases the lignin in the wood and binds the sawdust together. The wet sawdust doesn't want to bind because the water cools it too much: no heat, no lignin release. Then you're just hooking broken bits of wood together and that doesn't hold well. But commercial systems don't try to make it go with such a large block: they work on a pellet that's only a few millimeters in diameter.

[@Ants_Pants]

Yeah

[@davidstoddard9160]

I would suggest either selling the sawdust for bedding purposes and use fallen dead logs for your fire heat.